Recommended Reading From Top CEOs

Updated on

Mckinsey  put together a list of the best books by some of the top CEOs – unfortunately it is just has the title and the author without any information on the book so we are helping you out by filing in that info (this is a nice diverse list which includes the MD of China Investment Corporation and Jamie Dimon Among others) one book many seem to like… The Seventh Sense: Power, Fortune, and Survival in the Age of Networks .

If you want to find the full list go here we also list it below at the bottom along with descriptions. Note: we do not endorse the short term trading strategies (well we really do not officially endorse anything) but to keep the list complete we have included all descriptions of books below. Because this is lengthy we will be breaking them up by section so stay tuned for more!- which brings to Industry Background and Flavor – there are some real classics in here and a few lesser known names and many of the books only cost a few pennies from Amazon and even with shipping will cost you less than $4-5 TOTAL, a bunch only cost a penny plus a few dollars shipping – so make sure to check them out!!

Also see

 

 

Index
Dominic Barton, McKinsey

Andrew N. Liveris, Dow

Carl Bass, Autodesk

Winston Ma, managing director, China Investment Corporation

Carlo Messina, Intesa Sanpaolo

Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase

  • The Conservative Heart: How to Build a Fairer, Happier, and More Prosperous America—Arthur C. Brooks
  • Ronald Reagan—Jacob Weisberg

Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn

Wendell P. Weeks, Corning

Risto Siilasmaa, Nokia

Walter Robb, Whole Foods Market

Gail Kelly, former CEO, Westpac

Phuthuma Nhleko, Mobile Telephone Networks

 

Roberto Setubal, Itaú Unibanco

David T. Seaton, Fluor

Hakeem Belo-Osagie, Etisalat Nigeria

Chuck Robbins, Cisco

More below

Dominic Barton, McKinsey

The Black Prince of Florence: The Spectacular Life and Treacherous World of Alessandro de’ Medici—Catherine Fletcher

Ruler of Florence for seven bloody years, 1531 to 1537, Alessandro de’ Medici was arguably the first person of color to serve as a head of state in the Western world. Born out of wedlock to a dark-skinned maid and Lorenzo de’ Medici, he was the last legitimate heir to the line of Lorenzo the Magnificent. When Alessandro’s noble father died of syphilis, the family looked to him. Groomed for power, he carved a path through the backstabbing world of Italian politics in a time when cardinals, popes, and princes vied for wealth and advantage. By the age of nineteen, he was prince of Florence, inheritor of the legacy of the grandest dynasty of the Italian Renaissance.

Alessandro faced down family rivalry and enormous resistance from Florence’s oligarchs, who called him a womanizer-which he undoubtedly was–and a tyrant. Yet this real-life counterpart to Machiavelli’s Prince kept his grip on power until he was assassinated at the age of 26 during a late-night tryst arranged by his scheming cousins. After his death, his brief but colorful reign was criticized by those who had murdered him in a failed attempt to restore the Florentine republic. For the first time, the true story is told in The Black Prince of Florence.

Catherine Fletcher tells the riveting tale of Alessandro’s unexpected rise and spectacular fall, unraveling centuries-old mysteries, exposing forgeries, and bringing to life the epic personalities of the Medicis, Borgias, and others as they waged sordid campaigns to rise to the top. Drawing on new research and first-hand sources, this biography of a most intriguing Renaissance figure combines archival scholarship with discussions of race and class that are still relevant today.

The Black Prince of Florence: The Spectacular Life and Treacherous World of Alessandro de’ Medici

The European Identity: Historical and Cultural Realities We Cannot Deny—Stephen Green

What—if anything—do the twenty-eight member states of the European Union have in common? Amidst all the variety, can one even speak of a European identity? In this timely book, Stephen Green explores these questions and argues for the necessity of the European voice in the international community.

Green points out that Europeans can readily define the differences that separate them from others around the globe, but they have yet to clearly define their own similarities across member states. He argues that Europe has something distinctive and vitally important to offer: the experience of a unique journey through centuries of exploration and conflict, errors and lessons, soul-searching and rebuilding—an evolution of universal significance.

Coming at a time when the divisions in European culture have been laid bare by recent financial crises and calls for independence, The European Identity identifies one of the biggest challenges for all of the member states of the European Union.

The European Identity: Historical and Cultural Realities We Cannot Deny

China’s Mobile Economy: Opportunities in the Largest and Fastest Information Consumption Boom—Winston Ma

China’s Mobile Economy: Opportunities in the Largest and Fastest Information Consumption Boom is a cutting-edge text that spotlights the digital transformation in China. Organised into three major areas of the digital economy within China, this ground-breaking book explores the surge in e-commerce of consumer goods, the way in which multi-screen and mobile Internet use has increased in popularity, and the cultural emphasis on the mobile Internet as a source of lifestyle- and entertainment-based content. Targeted at the global business community, this lucid and engaging text guides business leaders, investors, investment banking professionals, corporate advisors, and consultants in grasping the challenges and opportunities created by China’s emerging mobile economy, and its debut onto the global stage.

2014 proved to be a milestone year for the Internet in China with the IPO of Alibaba, China’s largest e-commerce company. This financial move highlighted China’s mobile Internet boom and its continuing economic transformation, it also had an impact on global capital markets, foreign investors, consumer companies, and the global economy as a whole.

  • Understand what the digital transformation in China is, and how it is changing the global landscape
  • Explore the e-commerce consumer boom in the context of the Chinese market
  • Understand the implications of the multi-screen age and mobile Internet for China’s consumers
  • See how mobile Internet use, its focus on lifestyle and entertainment is aligned with today’s Chinese culture

China’s Mobile Economy: Opportunities in the Largest and Fastest Information Consumption Boom introduces you to the digital transformation in China, and explains how this transformation has the potential to transform both China and the global consumer landscape.

The Seventh Sense: Power, Fortune, and Survival in the Age of Networks—Joshua Cooper Ramo

From the author of the international bestseller THE AGE OF THE UNTHINKABLEcomes a powerful new story of revolution and riches in a connected age.

Endless terror. Refugee waves. An unfixable global economy. Surprising election results. New billion-dollar fortunes. Miracle medical advances. What if they were all connected? What if you could understand why? The Seventh Sense examines the historic force now shaking our world–and explains how our leaders, our businesses, and each of us can master it.

All around us now we are surrounded by events that are difficult to understand. But every day, new figures and forces emerge that seem to have mastered this tumultuous age. Sometimes these are the leaders of the most earthshaking companies of our time, accumulating billion-dollar fortunes. Or they are successful investors or our best generals. Other times, however, quick success is going to terrorists, rebels, and figures intent on chaos. What if we could know the secret of those who can make sense of this age? What if we could apply it to the questions that worry us most?

In this groundbreaking new book, Joshua Cooper Ramo, author of the international bestseller The Age of the Unthinkable, introduces a powerful way of seeing the world.The Seventh Sense is the story of what all of today’s successful figures see and feel–forces that are invisible to most of us but explain everything from explosive technological change to uneasy political ripples. The secret to power now is understanding our new age of networks–not merely the Internet but also networks of trade and DNA and finance. Based on his years of advising generals, CEOs, and politicians, Ramo takes us into the opaque heart of our world’s rapidly connected systems and teaches us what the victors of this age know–and what the losers are not yet seeing.

But The Seventh Sense won’t merely change the way you see the world. It will also give you the power to change it.

Andrew N. Liveris, Dow

The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing—Benjamin Graham

The greatest investment advisor of the twentieth century, Benjamin Graham taught and inspired people worldwide. Graham’s philosophy of “value investing” — which shields investors from substantial error and teaches them to develop long-term strategies — has made The Intelligent Investor the stock market bible ever since its original publication in 1949.

Over the years, market developments have proven the wisdom of Graham’s strategies. While preserving the integrity of Graham’s original text, this revised edition includes updated commentary by noted financial journalist Jason Zweig, whose perspective incorporates the realities of today’s market, draws parallels between Graham’s examples and today’s financial headlines, and gives readers a more thorough understanding of how to apply Graham’s principles.

Vital and indispensable, this HarperBusiness Essentials edition of The Intelligent Investor is the most important book you will ever read on how to reach your financial goals.

The First Clash: The Miraculous Greek Victory at Marathon and Its Impact on Western Civilization—James Lacey

“A compelling and provocative read . . . With a soldier’s eye, Jim Lacey re-creates the battle of Marathon in all its brutal simplicity.”—Barry Strauss, author of Masters of Command

Marathon—one of history’s most pivotal battles. Its name evokes images of almost superhuman courage, endurance, and fighting spirit. In this eye-opening book, military analyst James Lacey takes a fresh look at Marathon and reveals why the battle happened, how it was fought, and whether, in fact, it saved Western civilization. Lacey brilliantly reconstructs the world of the fifth century B.C. leading up to the astonishing military defeat of the Persian Empire by the vastly undermanned Greek defenders. With the kind of vivid detail that characterizes the best modern war reportage, he shows how the heavily armed Persian army was shocked and demoralized by the relentless assault of the Athenian phalanx. He reveals the fascinating aftermath of Marathon, how its fighters became the equivalent of our “Greatest Generation,” and challenges the legacy and lessons that have often been misunderstood—perhaps, now more than ever, at our own peril.

Immediate, visceral, and full of new analyses that defy decades of conventional wisdom,The First Clash is a superb interpretation of a conflict that indeed made the world safe for Aristotle, Plato, and our own modern democracy.

Australia’s Second Chance—George Megalogenis

Australia was the only rich country not to have gone into recession during the GFC. Our standard of living is one of the highest in the world, and we’re a multicultural mix of talented migrants from all over the world. We’ve been here before: at the end of the goldrush in the 1850s, Australians had the highest standard of living on earth. And we lost our nerve; we shut the doors to immigration, tried to hoard what we had and entered almost a hundred years of decline. Our second chance is now; will we use it or lose it?
Crunching numbers and weaving history into a riveting, rollicking tale, George Megalogenis brilliantly chronicles the waves of immigration from the First Fleet onwards and uses his unique abilities in decoding economics and demography to advance this new insight into our history, and our future.

Carl Bass, Autodesk

Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon—Kevin Fedarko

From one of Outside magazine’s “Literary All-Stars” comes the thrilling true tale of the fastest boat ride ever, down the entire length of the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon, during the legendary flood of 1983.

In the spring of 1983, massive flooding along the length of the Colorado River confronted a team of engineers at the Glen Canyon Dam with an unprecedented emergency that may have resulted in the most catastrophic dam failure in history. In the midst of this crisis, the decision to launch a small wooden dory named “The Emerald Mile” at the head of the Grand Canyon, just fifteen miles downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam, seemed not just odd, but downright suicidal.

The Emerald Mile, at one time slated to be destroyed, was rescued and brought back to life by Kenton Grua, the man at the oars, who intended to use this flood as a kind of hydraulic sling-shot. The goal was to nail the all-time record for the fastest boat ever propelled—by oar, by motor, or by the grace of God himself—down the entire length of the Colorado River from Lee’s Ferry to Lake Mead. Did he survive? Just barely. Now, this remarkable, epic feat unfolds here, in The Emerald Mile.

Ordinary Grace—William Kent Krueger

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE 2014 EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL
WINNER OF THE 2014 DILYS AWARD
A SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF 2013

“That was it. That was all of it. A grace so ordinary there was no reason at all to remember it. Yet I have never across the forty years since it was spoken forgotten a single word.”

New Bremen, Minnesota, 1961. The Twins were playing their debut season, ice-cold root beers were selling out at the soda counter of Halderson’s Drugstore, and Hot Stuff comic books were a mainstay on every barbershop magazine rack. It was a time of innocence and hope for a country with a new, young president. But for thirteen-year-old Frank Drum it was a grim summer in which death visited frequently and assumed many forms. Accident. Nature. Suicide. Murder.

Frank begins the season preoccupied with the concerns of any teenage boy, but when tragedy unexpectedly strikes his family—which includes his Methodist minister father; his passionate, artistic mother; Juilliard-bound older sister; and wise-beyond-his-years kid brother—he finds himself thrust into an adult world full of secrets, lies, adultery, and betrayal, suddenly called upon to demonstrate a maturity and gumption beyond his years.

Told from Frank’s perspective forty years after that fateful summer, Ordinary Grace is a brilliantly moving account of a boy standing at the door of his young manhood, trying to understand a world that seems to be falling apart around him. It is an unforgettable novel about discovering the terrible price of wisdom and the enduring grace of God.

Out Stealing Horses: A Novel—Per Petterson

We were going out stealing horses. That was what he said, standing at the door to the cabin where I was spending the summer with my father. I was fifteen. It was 1948 and oneof the first days of July.

Trond’s friend Jon often appeared at his doorstep with an adventure in mind for the two of them. But this morning was different. What began as a joy ride on “borrowed” horses ends with Jon falling into a strange trance of grief. Trond soon learns what befell Jon earlier that day—an incident that marks the beginning of a series of vital losses for both boys.

Set in the easternmost region of Norway, Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson begins with an ending. Sixty-seven-year-old Trond has settled into a rustic cabin in an isolated area to live the rest of his life with a quiet deliberation. A meeting with his only neighbor, however, forces him to reflect on that fateful summer.

Fundamentals of Press Brake Tooling—Ben Rapien

Subtitled The Basic Information You Need to Know in Order to Design and Form Good Parts, this book contains a wide breadth of information about press brakes. The author uses his 45 years of experience with press brake tooling applications to provide a basic understanding of what to consider when selecting proper tooling, determining minimum machine requirements, using blank size calculations, and arriving at an acceptable bend sequence. The technical information allows the reader to understand the complex concepts and techniques used in forming operations. Although this book is based on an engineering background, the technical information has been simplified to allow press brake users to understand the complex concepts and techniques used in forming operations. This information is derived from real-world experience based on the actual parameters that have to be considered in order to produce quality parts.

Winston Ma, managing director, China Investment Corporation

Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human—Harold Bloom

“The indispensable critic on the indispensable writer.” -Geoffrey O’Brien, New York Review of Books

A landmark achievement as expansive, erudite, and passionate as its renowned author,Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human is the culmination of a lifetime of reading, writing about, and teaching Shakespeare. Preeminent literary critic-and ultimate authority on the western literary tradition-Harold Bloom leads us through a comprehensive reading of every one of the dramatist’s plays, brilliantly illuminating each work with unrivaled warmth, wit and insight. At the same time, Bloom presents one of the boldest theses of Shakespearean scholarships: that Shakespeare not only invented the English language, but also created human nature as we know it today.

The Art of Woo: Using Strategic Persuasion to Sell Your Ideas—G. Richard Shell and Mario Moussa

G. Richard Shell and Mario Moussa know what it takes to drive new ideas through complex organizations. They have advised thousands of executives from companies such as Google, Microsoft, and General Electric to organizations like the World Bank and even the FBI’s hostage rescue training program. In The Art of Woo, they present their systematic, four- step process for winning over even the toughest bosses and most skeptical colleagues. Beginning with two powerful self-assessments to help readers find their “Woo IQ,”they show how relationship-based persuasion works to open hearts and minds.

Alexander Hamilton—Ron Chernow

New York Times Bestseller, and the inspiration for the hit Broadway musical Hamilton!

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Chernow presents a landmark biography of Alexander Hamilton, the Founding Father who galvanized, inspired, scandalized, and shaped the newborn nation.

In the first full-length biography of Alexander Hamilton in decades, Ron Chernow tells the riveting story of a man who overcame all odds to shape, inspire, and scandalize the newborn America. According to historian Joseph Ellis, Alexander Hamilton is “a robust full-length portrait, in my view the best ever written, of the most brilliant, charismatic and dangerous founder of them all.”

Few figures in American history have been more hotly debated or more grossly misunderstood than Alexander Hamilton. Chernow’s biography gives Hamilton his due and sets the record straight, deftly illustrating that the political and economic greatness of today’s America is the result of Hamilton’s countless sacrifices to champion ideas that were often wildly disputed during his time. “To repudiate his legacy,” Chernow writes, “is, in many ways, to repudiate the modern world.” Chernow here recounts Hamilton’s turbulent life: an illegitimate, largely self-taught orphan from the Caribbean, he came out of nowhere to take America by storm, rising to become George Washington’s aide-de-camp in the Continental Army, coauthoring The Federalist Papers, founding the Bank of New York, leading the Federalist Party, and becoming the first Treasury Secretary of the United States.Historians have long told the story of America’s birth as the triumph of Jefferson’s democratic ideals over the aristocratic intentions of Hamilton. Chernow presents an entirely different man, whose legendary ambitions were motivated not merely by self-interest but by passionate patriotism and a stubborn will to build the foundations of American prosperity and power. His is a Hamilton far more human than we’ve encountered before—from his shame about his birth to his fiery aspirations, from his intimate relationships with childhood friends to his titanic feuds with Jefferson, Madison, Adams, Monroe, and Burr, and from his highly public affair with Maria Reynolds to his loving marriage to his loyal wife Eliza. And never before has there been a more vivid account of Hamilton’s famous and mysterious death in a duel with Aaron Burr in July of 1804.
Chernow’s biography is not just a portrait of Hamilton, but the story of America’s birth seen through its most central figure. At a critical time to look back to our roots, Alexander Hamilton will remind readers of the purpose of our institutions and our heritage as Americans.

Carlo Messina, Intesa Sanpaolo

When Breath Becomes Air—Paul Kalanithi

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • For readers of Atul Gawande, Andrew Solomon, and Anne Lamott, this inspiring, exquisitely observed memoir finds hope and beauty in the face of insurmountable odds as an idealistic young neurosurgeon attempts to answer the question What makes a life worth living?

At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Airchronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality.

What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when the future, no longer a ladder toward your goals in life, flattens out into a perpetual present? What does it mean to have a child, to nurture a new life as another fades away? These are some of the questions Kalanithi wrestles with in this profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir.

Paul Kalanithi died in March 2015, while working on this book, yet his words live on as a guide and a gift to us all. “I began to realize that coming face to face with my own mortality, in a sense, had changed nothing and everything,” he wrote. “Seven words from Samuel Beckett began to repeat in my head: ‘I can’t go on. I’ll go on.’” When Breath Becomes Air is an unforgettable, life-affirming reflection on the challenge of facing death and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a brilliant writer who became both.

Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase

The Conservative Heart: How to Build a Fairer, Happier, and More Prosperous America—Arthur C. Brooks

 

For too long, conservatism has been a movement of the head and not the heart. NowNew York Times bestselling author Arthur C. Brooks offers a bold new vision for conservatism as a movement for happiness, unity, and social justice—a movement of the head and heart that boldly challenges the liberal monopoly on “fairness” and “compassion.”

Many Americans today see two dispiriting political choices: ineffective compassion on one side and heartless pragmatism on the other. Progressives have always presented themselves as champions of the poor and vulnerable. But they have not succeeded—more and more people are hopeless and dependent on government. Meanwhile, conservatives possess the best solutions to the problems of poverty and declining mobility. Yet because they don’t speak in a way that reflects their concern and compassion, many Americans don’t trust them. Americans know that outmoded redistribution yields poor results and does little for the pursuit of happiness. But there seems to be no conservative alternative that looks out for those struggling to get by.

Arthur Brooks, one of the country’s leading policy experts and the president of the American Enterprise Institute, has considered these issues for decades. Drawing on years of research on the sources of happiness and the conditions of human flourishing, Brooks presents a social justice agenda for a New Right. Proposing a set of practical policies firmly grounded in the four “institutions of meaning”—family, faith, community, and meaningful work—Brooks describes a government safety net that actually lifts people up, and offers a vision of true hope through earned success.

Brooks argues that it is time for a new kind of conservatism, one that fights poverty, promotes equal opportunity, and extols spiritual enlightenment. It is an inclusive, optimistic movement with a positive agenda to help people lead happier and more fulfilling lives.

Clear, well-reasoned, accessible, and free of vituperative politics, The Conservative Heartis a welcome new strategy for conservatives looking for fresh, actionable ideas—and for politically independent citizens who believe that neither side is adequately addressing their needs or concerns.

Ronald Reagan—Jacob Weisberg

 

he conservative icon who reshaped American politics and laid the groundwork for the end of the Cold War

In the second half of the twentieth century, no American president defined his political era as did Ronald Reagan. He ushered in an age that extolled smaller government, tax cuts, and strong defense, and to this day politicians of both political parties operate within the parameters of the world he made. His eight years in office from 1981 to 1989 were a time of economic crisis and recovery, a new American assertiveness abroad, and an engagement with the Soviet Union that began in conflict but moved in surprising new directions.

Jacob Weisberg provides a bracing portrait of America’s fortieth president and the ideas that animated his political career, offering a fresh psychological interpretation and showing that there was more to Reagan than the usual stereotypes. Reagan, he observes, was a staunch conservative but was also unafraid to compromise and cut deals where necessary. And Reagan espoused a firm belief, just as firm as his belief in small government and strong defense, that nuclear weapons were immoral and ought to be eliminated. Weisberg argues that these facets of Reagan were too often ignored in his time but reveal why his presidency turned out to be so consequential.

In the years since Reagan left office, he has been cast in marble by the Republican Party and dismissed by the Democrats. Weisberg shows why we need to move past these responses if we wish truly to appreciate his accomplishments and his legacy.

Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn

The Inner Lives of Markets: How People Shape Them—And They Shape Us—Ray Fisman and Tim Sullivan

What is a market? To most people it is a shopping center or an abstract space in which stock prices vary minutely. In reality, a market is something much more fundamental to being human, and it affects not just the price of tomatoes but the boundaries of everything we value.

Reading the newspapers these days, you could be forgiven for thinking that markets are getting ever more efficient—and better. But as Tim Sullivan and Ray Fisman argue in this insightful book, that view is far from complete. For one thing, efficiency isn’t always a good thing—illegal markets are very often more efficient than legal ones, because they are free of concern for laws and human rights. But even more importantly, the chatter about efficiency has obscured a much broader conversation about what kind of economic exchange we actually want. Every regulation, every sticker price, and every sale is part of an ever-changing ecosystem—one that affects us as much as we affect it.

By tracing 50 years of economic thought on this subject, Fisman and Sullivan show how markets have evolved—and how we can keep making them better. This leads to fascinating and surprising insights, such as:

  • Why your $10,000 used car is likely to sell for $2,000 or less;

 

  • Why you should think twice before buying batteries on Amazon; and

 

  • Why it’s essential that healthy people buy medical insurance.

In the end, The Inner Lives of Markets argues for a new way of thinking about how you spend your money—it shows that every transaction you make is part of a grand social experiment. We are all guinea pigs running through a lab maze, and the sooner we realize it, the more effectively we can navigate the path we want.

More Human: Designing a World Where People Come First—Steve Hilton with Jason and Scott Bade

People feel angry and let down by their leaders, as well as by the institutions that dominate their lives: political parties, government bureaucracy, and corporations. Yet the cause of this malaise, according to political–advisor–turned–tech–CEO Steve Hilton, is not being addressed by politicians on the left or the right.

Hilton argues that much of our daily experience—from the food we eat, to the governments we elect, to the economy on which our wealth depends, to the way we care for our health and well–being—has become too big, too bureaucratic, and too distant from the human scale.

More Human sets out a radical manifesto for change, aimed at the root causes of our problems rather than just the symptoms. Whether it’s using the latest advances in neuroscience to inform the fight against poverty and inequality, or applying lessons from America’s most radical schools to transform our children’s education, this book is an agenda for rethinking and redesigning the outdated systems and structures of our politics, government, economy, and society to make them more suited to the way we want to live our lives today. To make them more human.

The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements—Eric Hoffer

“[Eric Hoffer] is a student of extraordinary perception and insight. The range of his reading and research is vast, amazing. [The True Believer is] one of the most provocative books of our immediate day.”—Christian Science Monitor

The famous bestseller with “concise insight into what drives the mind of the fanatic and the dynamics of a mass movement” (Wall St. Journal) by Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Eric Hoffer, The True Believer is a landmark in the field of social psychology, and even more relevant today than ever before in history. Called a “brilliant and original inquiry” and “a genuine contribution to our social thought” by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., The True Believer is mandatory reading for anyone interested in the machinations by which an individual becomes a fanatic.

This Brave New World: India, China and the United States—Anja Manuel

In the next decade and a half, China and India will become two of the world’s indispensable powers—whether they rise peacefully or not. During that time, Asia will surpass the combined strength of North America and Europe in economic might, population size, and military spending.

Both India and China will have vetoes over many international decisions, from climate change to global trade, human rights, and business standards.

From her front row view of this colossal shift, first at the State Department and now as an advisor to American business leaders, Anja Manuel escorts the reader on an intimate tour of the corridors of power in Delhi and Beijing. Her encounters with political and business leaders reveal how each country’s history and politics influences their conduct today. Through vibrant stories, she reveals how each country is working to surmount enormous challenges—from the crushing poverty of Indian slum dwellers and Chinese factory workers, to outrageous corruption scandals, rotting rivers, unbreathable air, and managing their citizens’ discontent.

We wring our hands about China, Manuel writes, while we underestimate India, which will be the most important country outside the West to shape China’s rise. Manuel shows us that a different path is possible—we can bring China and India along as partners rather than alienating one or both, and thus extend our own leadership in the world.

The Gene: An Intimate History—Siddhartha Mukherjee

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning, bestselling author of The Emperor of All Maladies—a magnificent history of the gene and a response to the defining question of the future: What becomes of being human when we learn to “read” and “write” our own genetic information?

Siddhartha Mukherjee has a written a biography of the gene as deft, brilliant, and illuminating as his extraordinarily successful biography of cancer. Weaving science, social history, and personal narrative to tell us the story of one of the most important conceptual breakthroughs of modern times, Mukherjee animates the quest to understand human heredity and its surprising influence on our lives, personalities, identities, fates, and choices.

Throughout the narrative, the story of Mukherjee’s own family—with its tragic and bewildering history of mental illness—cuts like a bright, red line, reminding us of the many questions that hang over our ability to translate the science of genetics from the laboratory to the real world. In superb prose and with an instinct for the dramatic scene, he describes the centuries of research and experimentation—from Aristotle and Pythagoras to Mendel and Darwin, from Boveri and Morgan to Crick, Watson and Franklin, all the way through the revolutionary twenty-first century innovators who mapped the human genome.

As The New Yorker said of The Emperor of All Maladies, “It’s hard to think of many books for a general audience that have rendered any area of modern science and technology with such intelligence, accessibility, and compassion…An extraordinary achievement.” Riveting, revelatory, and magisterial history of a scientific idea coming to life, and an essential preparation for the moral complexity introduced by our ability to create or “write” the human genome, The Gene is a must-read for everyone concerned about the definition and future of humanity. This is the most crucial science of our time, intimately explained by a master.

 

The Seventh Sense: Power, Fortune, and Survival in the Age of Networks—Joshua Cooper Ramo

Above

Wendell P. Weeks, Corning

The Seventh Sense: Power, Fortune, and Survival in the Age of Networks—Joshua Cooper Ramo

Above

The Gilead trilogy, comprising Gilead —Marilynne Robinson

The 2004 Pulitzer Prize winning novel
A New York Times Top-Ten Book of 2004
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction

Nearly 25 years after Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson returns with an intimate tale of three generations, from the Civil War to the 20th century: a story about fathers and sons and the spiritual battles that still rage at America’s heart. In the words of Kirkus, it is a novel “as big as a nation, as quiet as thought, and moving as prayer. Matchless and towering.” Gilead tells the story of America and will break your heart.

Search Inside Yourself: The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness —Chade-Meng Tan

With Search Inside Yourself, Chade-Meng Tan, one of Google’s earliest engineers and personal growth pioneer, offers a proven method for enhancing mindfulness and emotional intelligence in life and work.

Meng’s job is to teach Google’s best and brightest how to apply mindfulness techniques in the office and beyond; now, readers everywhere can get insider access to one of the most sought after classes in the country, a course in health, happiness and creativity that is improving the livelihood and productivity of those responsible for one of the most successful businesses in the world.

With forewords by Daniel Goleman, author of the international bestseller Emotional Intelligence, and Jon Kabat-Zinn, renowned mindfulness expert and author of Coming To Our Senses, Meng’s Search Inside Yourself is an invaluable guide to achieving your own best potential.

To be continued

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